Mistakes
by Noirink
Summary: Edward has made far too many mistakes in Al's book. So, he shuns him, as do the other citizens of Munich. Find out how Edward copes with having everyone turn him away - including Alphonse. Disclaimer: I don't own FMA T for gore in later chapters Post-CoS
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.  
Pre-A/N: This story does take place post-CoS. Plus, if you think this story will be a "tear-bringer", then get a box of tissues ready. LOL I will update when I get some good reviews. Thank you :3

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It all started with just one mistake. Unfortunately, that one mistake turned into another. Soon, it fell into a domino effect; one after another. "Al, please, don't hate me anymore," Ed whimpered while lying in his bed crying. He and Alphonse, were not on good terms.

_**On a warm, summer day in Munich, Germany, it was Al's eighteenth birthday. Everyone attended the party, except for one person. "Hey, Mr. Hughes, have you seen Edward?" the now-legal-adult inquired to his friend. **_

_**"Nope, haven't see him," Maes retorted. Al had a disappointed look on his face. "Hey, come on kid, cheer up! You're eighteen now! You should be having a good time!" the officer comforted. **_

_**"Yeah, but it's hard to have fun without Brother," Al replied. **_

_**"Don't worry, Al, he'll be here," Maes stated, putting a firm hand on the boy's shoulder. Unfortunately, Ed didn't show up. **_

_**When Al returned to his and Ed's apartment, he found the older blonde sleeping on the couch. He's been here the whole time? Al thought. He shook his brother awake and Ed was startled to see him. "Oh, Al, you're back from the groceries. What time is it?" the golden-eyed man inquired. **_

"_**Brother, it's ten o' clock at night. Where were you?" Al countered with a question of his own.**_

"_**Uh, here, waiting for you to get home," Ed answered. **_

"_**Waiting for me to get home? Brother, you missed my birthday party!" the younger brother said at a near shout. **_

"_**Birthday party, what birthday party?" the blonde queried, frightened he had forgotten something – something important. Suddenly, it came to him, "Oh, Al, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I forgot! Please forgive me!" **_

"_**It's alright, Brother, we can do something tomorrow. Just the two of us," Al said half-heartedly. **_

"_**Thanks, Al, I owe you!" Ed affirmed with a grin. The two brothers were smiling happily at each other. **_

Unfortunately, those were the last smiles the two would exchange. Al drew the last straw when Edward had broken a $10,000.00 vase at a furniture store. The younger brother took every dime out of his own banking account and paid for the vase. After that, he no longer called Ed "brother". He no longer cared about what happened to him.

To atone for all of his mistakes, Ed moved out of the apartment and left Al alone. Unfortunately, to Ed's surprise, Al was indifferent to his action. From then on, Ed was known as the "Screw-Up of Munich" around town. Everyone shunned him, including Alphonse. It was so painful for Ed, to see his only little brother, despise him so much.

The next morning, Al woke up from a good night's sleep. He yawned as he sat up in his comfy bed. It's been awhile since he and his brother had a frank chat; or made contact at all. However, why did he care? All his brother was to him was an idiot who couldn't do anything right unless he was using alchemy. The boy got out of bed and cleaned himself up for the day.

As he walked down the dirt streets of Munich, Al noticed his brother. He was being shooed away by a merchant in the street. "Get out of here you little rat! You'll just break something!" the bearded man at the fruit stand shouted angrily. Wow, rumors sure fueled a bunch of crap. Especially, if the crap was aimed at a particular person.

The man lobbed a few ripe apples at a trepid Edward. The golden-eyed boy sprinted away and into an alleyway. Alphonse approached the fruit stand cautiously. "Ah, Alphonse, good to see you!" the black-haired man hollered gleefully.

"Good morning, Mr. Herman," Al retorted.

"Now what I have I told you, Al? Just call me Frank!" Frank Herman stated.

"Right, right, so what do you have today, Frank?" Al inquired, eyeing the vast variety of fruit.

"Well, I've got some fresh new pineapples from that pineapple farm on the outskirts of town. Oh, and also, I've got a ripe batch of raspberries," the middle-aged man droned on. As Al listened, he subconsciously thought of his poor brother.

Edward staggered through the streets of old Munich. Why does everyone hate me? he thought. Doesn't anyone care about me anymore? His stomach was growling loudly. Other civilians were giving him dirty looks as he passed by. "Please don't hate me," Ed muttered.

The blonde hadn't eaten in quite awhile, not after all of the mistakes he's made. He didn't deserve to eat – in his mind, anyway. Suddenly, something hard hit him in the back of the head. Edward turned around to see who assaulted him. A young lad with his friends were laughing and pointing at him… Mocking him.

Without any words to shout, like he used to, Ed kept walking aimlessly. It's all my fault, I shouldn't have made so many mistakes, he thought. He felt like bashing his head against a brick wall 'til he died. Yes, death, that would relieve his pain. But, he couldn't leave Alphonse behind, could he?

"He certainly wouldn't care, if someone like me were to die," Ed muttered sadly. "Maybe it would make him happy." A single tear streamed down his slightly tanned face. Yes, it would certainly make him happy, he thought with his heart wrenching.

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Post-A/N: If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in your review. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.  
Pre-A/N: This is the final chapter of Mistakes. Enjoy!

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Ed had finally reached his dreary apartment. It was the only place that accepted and gave him a room. What puzzled Ed the most was why the other people of Munich had to butt in between his and Al's quarrels? It didn't make much sense when he thought about it. The fact he was making a ton of mistakes was none of their business, last time he checked. Why couldn't they just butt out and leave him alone?

The blonde flopped onto his bed and didn't feel like getting back up. His stomach growled again; man he was hungry. Why couldn't that Herman guy have given him a piece apple or something? Of course, he did but the apples were thrown at him, not given to him. Ed remembered the heated look in the man's eyes.

Everyone hates me, Ed thought. Nobody cares about me, not even Al. He couldn't believe his only little brother could hold a grudge this long. Tears welled up in Edward's golden eyes. His body ached and throbbed.

"I miss seeing you smile at me, Al," Ed muttered sadly under his breath. No matter how many times Ed apologized, Al would just turn his back on him. One time, as Edward was strolling down the dirt road of Munich, some thugs decided they would take the blonde's valuables. He had seen Alphonse there, witnessing everything that happened. However, he just stood there, and let his poor older brother be beaten 'til he couldn't feel his entire body.

The scars from that day were still imprinted on Ed's body. It hurt so darn much, that the golden-eyed man wanted to bow down before Al and beg for his forgiveness. But he knew that was futile and stupid. Unwillingly, Ed forced himself to get off the bed and sauntered over to the window. He had a clear view of the dirt streets below.

Oddly, he saw his little brother there, conversing with the other locals, smiling. "He doesn't need me to be happy," Ed whimpered. "Al would be better off if I wasn't around to screw everything up."

From that day on, the older Elric never left his apartment and vowed never to show himself in public ever again. He would do anything to make his brother happy, even if it meant dying.

"I haven't seen Edward around for awhile, he's usually here in the market, being harassed by some kid or something," Frank Herman told Alphonse, his usual customer.

"Yeah, do you think he left town?" Al inquired quizzically. It had been a year and a half or so since Alphonse saw his older brother snaking along the walkway.

"Wouldn't blame him, the kid's nothing but a joke here. I'll bet you that the next town he goes to, he make twice as many mistakes there as he did here," The burly man joked. Al giggled at the merchant's statement, but something made his stomach drop. Maybe it was time for the two brothers to meet face-to-face again. It would certainly clear his conscience. The younger Elric decided he'd drop by his brother's apartment to say 'Hello'.

As Alphonse approached the lackluster apartment complex, something in the boy's mind made him have an adrenaline rush. At last, on the third floor, room 325, the hazy-brown-eyed boy knocked on the oak door. "Ed!" Al called. "Come on, Ed, open the door!" Unfortunately, there was no answer.

Al sighed in irritation and he pounded on the door. "Ed, I know you're in there, so open up!" Without realizing anything, he twisted the doorknob, and the door easily opened up. "Huh, what the heck? Why is it unlocked, he usually has it secured," Al wondered aloud. Slowly, the younger brother moseyed on into the apartment room of Edward Elric.

Something wasn't right about this place. It seemed like nothing had been used or touched for quite awhile. A pungent odor that smelled of iron came from the older blonde's room. "Edward…" Al said shakily. Cautiously, Alphonse opened the door.

"BROTHER!!!" Al cried as he raced toward Ed. A gigantic pool of blood was stationed near the side of the golden-eyed boy's bed.

A-Alphonse, is that you?" Ed rasped as he slowly raised his weak body from his bed. "I can't believe it, I-I didn't think you'd come see me." Blood trickled down the older boy's mouth. He was in his peach pajamas and his vibrant, golden hair was cascading down his back.

"Brother, what's happened to you? Why is there a pool of blood on the ground?" Al inquired desperately.

"M-my body, Al, is withering. I w-won't be around, for much longer," Ed croaked with a tear strolling down his unusually pale cheek. "Y-you'll be, happier, r-right?" That question hit Alphonse like a sledgehammer to glass.

"B-brother, don't go, I need you," Al sobbed softly. He embraced his older brother, and realized how skinny Ed had gotten.

"N-no, Al, you don't need me. P-please, just don't forget, that I was…" Ed began but the pain was too much.

"That you were what, Brother?" Al squeaked, fighting back tears.

"T-that I was, once your brother," the older boy wheezed. His once lively, golden eyes had dulled to milky orbs of nothingness. "I-I'm tired, Al," Ed choked as he began to shut his eyes.

"No, Brother, don't fall asleep! Stay awake!" Al shrieked.

"I c-can't, I'm sorry,Al," the older rasped. "D-don't hate me, anymore." Those were Ed's last words to his little brother. Alphonse was crying waterfalls as he held his dead brother in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Brother, it's all my fault. Please come back! Come back, Brother!" It was useless, Edward wasn't coming back. Al never got the chance to tell Ed he didn't hate him anymore and that he loved him (as a brother).

A week had passed and the funeral for Edward Elric was just ending. Alphonse, Maes Hughes, Noah, and Gracia were carrying Ed's casket to his final resting place. Everyone (or mostly everyone) from Munich gathered to mourn the poor lad's death. Al wasn't the only one that caused his brother to go suicidial – in a way. Rain poured down from the Heavens that day.

Oh, Brother, I wish you were here right now, Al thought. I wish I wasn't so useless. "Don't hate me anymore" played in the lone Elric's mind like a broken record. "I'm so sorry, Brother," Al muttered. The mahogany casket was lowered into the ground with a beautiful headstone above that read:

_Edward Elric_

_1920 – 1942_

_Family and Friend _

The sun was just below the horizon and Al was still sitting in front of Ed's grave. He didn't want to leave his brother all alone again, like before. It was too painful and tears were flooding down the boy's cheeks. With one last 'Good-bye', he got up from his spot on the ground and laid a photo of himself and Ed on the older Elric's grave. On the back of the photo read: I won't forget you, Brother.

Once that was done, Al slowly ambled away and back to his own apartment to continue his sad and lonely life – without Edward.

**THE END**

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Post-A/N: If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in your review. Thank you.


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